A group of hopefuls for a job vacancy all sat in a office area. As instructed, they had all filled in an application form and had been told that they would be summoned into the interview room. The last entrant filled in his form and had only just sat down when he got up again and went straight into the interview room. The others looked at each other puzzled, but didn't say anything. When he came out accompanied by the interviewer the others were told "Thank you for coming but the vacancy has now been filled".

Was there some clue on the form that indicated to him that he should proceed directly to the interview room? If so, was this clue also present on the forms that were given to the other applicants? If so, did he get the job because, or partly because, he had picked up the clue while the others had not?

Was there some clue on the form that indicated to him that he should proceed directly to the interview room? noIf so, was this clue also present on the forms that were given to the other applicants? n/aIf so, did he get the job because, or partly because, he had picked up the clue while the others had not? n/a

"The last entrant" - what does that mean? Had anyone else been interviewed? I'm assuming that a number of people have completed forms and are all waiting to be called in and none yet has been, is that right?

Is it relevant what the job vacancy was for?

Did he follow an instruction on the form? Is the form relevant? Is use of initiative relevant?

Are any personal details about the applicants? or interviewers? or successful applicant?

Were the interviewers expecting (or, perhaps more accurately, hoping) someone to enter immediately? Was this a test set by the interviewers to find the most suitable candidate?

Were there any qualifiers / conditionals attached to the 'being summoned' statement?

Was the successful applicant (SA) actually summonned in some esoteric way that is relevant to his success? Was he a Freemason, or any other secret society member, and the interviewers wanted someone of the same group?

Could it be reasonably said that the unsuccessful applicants (UA) were 'slow-on-the-uptake' or 'dimwitted' in their failure to enter immediately?

Does it matter in which country this scenario occurs? the era? Would it be reasonable to say that this modern-day Britain?

Do the UAs have any cause to claim that there was any discrimination, or other unfair hiring practice happening in the selection process?

"The last entrant" - what does that mean? Had anyone else been interviewed? no I'm assuming that a number of people have completed forms and are all waiting to be called in and none yet has been, is that right? yope

Is it relevant what the job vacancy was for? yes

Did he follow an instruction on the form? noIs the form relevant? not for the purposes of the puzzle, it was a standard job application formIs use of initiative relevant? not really

By Ed Mason (Logician) on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 11:28 pm:

Is the job relevant? yes

Are any personal details about the applicants? or interviewers? or successful applicant? no to all

Were the interviewers expecting (or, perhaps more accurately, hoping) someone to enter immediately? yes Was this a test set by the interviewers to find the most suitable candidate? yes

Were there any qualifiers / conditionals attached to the 'being summoned' statement? no

Was the successful applicant (SA) actually summonned in some esoteric way that is relevant to his success? no Was he a Freemason, or any other secret society member, and the interviewers wanted someone of the same group? nothing like that

Could it be reasonably said that the unsuccessful applicants (UA) were 'slow-on-the-uptake' or 'dimwitted' in their failure to enter immediately? yes

Does it matter in which country this scenario occurs? it could work in many countries the era? yes Would it be reasonable to say that this modern-day Britain? no

Do the UAs have any cause to claim that there was any discrimination, or other unfair hiring practice happening in the selection process? NO

Was it a job for a caretaker? I'm thinking in lines of someone to push a wheelchair. The only way the interviewer could come outside to talk to the other applicants was if someone (succesfull applicant) pushed him...

Was it a job for a caretaker? no I'm thinking in lines of someone to push a wheelchair. The only way the interviewer could come outside to talk to the other applicants was if someone (succesfull applicant) pushed him... interesting thought, but nope

By Katy (Katy) on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 08:29 pm:

Was it relevant that he sat down? noish Did he do something to make himself particularly relevant? yessish Was he something relevant? possibly, but you would need to be more specific Ethnicity relevant? noCould we reasonably guess the job he was applying for? yes

I'm assuming it too easy if it is one of those things where the first instruction says enter immediatly after finishing this and no one bothered to read it?

did he have to make a logical deduction to conclude he should enter? was the entire thing to test the logical prowess of the potential applicants?

did the individual who entered demonstrate knowledege or skill other then simple intelect/logic by entering? if so is it something he would need to be trained in? or something more basic like a personality trait or innate talent?

just to make sure... no where on the sheet did it say in any way to enter the room without being summoned? did the sheet mention anything about when to enter the room?

so judging from previous questions this couldn't have occured in modern day? if so would the era be prior to 1950? within the 1900? later?

I'm assuming it too easy if it is one of those things where the first instruction says enter immediatly after finishing this and no one bothered to read it? no, I've already done a puzzle like that!

did he have to make a logical deduction to conclude he should enter? yessish was the entire thing to test the logical prowess of the potential applicants? I guess you would call it logical, but there's more to it

did the individual who entered demonstrate knowledege or skill other then simple intelect/logic by entering? yes if so is it something he would need to be trained in? yes or something more basic like a personality trait or innate talent? no, although doing what he did required a bit of an innate talent as well

just to make sure... no where on the sheet did it say in any way to enter the room without being summoned? correct did the sheet mention anything about when to enter the room? no

so judging from previous questions this couldn't have occured in modern day? correct if so would the era be prior to 1950? yes within the 1900? yes later? no

By Katy (Katy) on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 08:28 am:

"they would be summoned into the interview room"

Is it this method of sumoning him that we need to figure out? yes Was it a written instruction? no Spoken? no Inferred by last entrant? no Was it in the form of a puzzle? no with a slight ish (Can we give him a name?) OK, how about Joe

Had he not done this, would the other applicants have eventually been interviewed? not necessarily Is it likely that any of them would have got the job? they were all on equal footing but if nobody went in, nobody would have been deemed suitable

So it wasn't written or spoken that candidates should enter the interview room? Neither did he infer it? Does he understand a foreign language or other method of communication (e.g. semaphore, morse code?) Did Joe pick up an instruction to enter the room? If so, which of his senses were involved: sight? hearing? touch? taste? smell?

So it wasn't written or spoken that candidates should enter the interview room? correct Neither did he infer it? noDoes he understand a foreign language or other method of communication (e.g. semaphore, morse code?) YES - morse code, well doneDid Joe pick up an instruction to enter the room? yes If so, which of his senses were involved: sight? hearing? touch? taste? smell? hearing

********** SPOILER ***********

Joe and the others were applying for a job as morse code communicators (or whatever you called them). Above the clatter of the office typewriters he could hear the message "If you can understand this, please enter the interview room immediately". He was the only one who could, so he got the job

Thank you one and all - and be careful out there; there may be someone trying to get a message through to you......